Method and device for adjusting output frame

ABSTRACT

A method and a device for adjusting an output frame are provided. The present disclosure is suitable for an electronic device with a display. In the present disclosure, a relative position between a user and the display is obtained first. Then, an output frame which will be outputted by the display later is adjusted according to the relative position. As a result, the output frame is adjusted in advance to fit the present position of the user, so that the user views the output frame more easily and enjoys the best display result.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan applicationserial no. 96151587, filed on Dec. 31, 2007. The entirety of theabove-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by referenceherein and made a part of this specification.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is related to a method and a device for outputtinga frame, and particularly to a method and a device capable ofautomatically adjusting the output frame according to a user's position.

2. Description of Related Art

As displaying technology advances rapidly, types of displays also evolvefrom cathode ray tube (CRT) displays in the early days, to flat paneldisplays capable of reducing more occupied space, and further to touchdisplays which have been extensively applied to all kinds of electronicproducts nowadays.

From a user's viewpoint, display result of a display most directlyinfluences the impression the user has after using an electronicproduct. The user can adjust parameters of the display, such asresolution, contrast and luminance, to obtain a better output frameaccording to his/her own habits. However, when outputting frames throughthe display, current electronic products usually cannot automaticallyadjust the frame dynamically according to the user's current position.For example, generally, the size of the words displayed on the frame isfixed, and therefore when the user keeps a farther distance from thedisplay, the user very possibly cannot clearly see the contents of theframe because the words on the frame are too small.

When the user views a frame displayed by a liquid crystal display (LCD),the frame is also affected and limited by gray scale inversion of theLCD such that when viewed at certain angles the user would see frameslike those in black and white inversion. Moreover, as for most currentnaked-eye 3D displays, in the actual implementation of the 3D displays,barriers or micro-prisms are disposed therein to limit the left eye ofthe user to view pixels on the left and the right eye of the user toview pixels on the right so as to achieve the three-dimensional displayeffect. Therefore, when the user views a 3D display, the viewing islimited by view angles. When the user is located at a dead view angle,the left eye of the user can only see the pixels on the right, and theright eye of the user can only see the pixels on the left. At thismoment, the frame seen by the user is broken.

As such, if the display cannot adjust an output frame correspondinglyaccording to the user's current position, the display function is veryeasily limited and will display many display results that areunacceptable to viewers. Since the user cannot see the displayed framesclearly, more negative impressions of the electronic products are likelyto be formed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing, the present disclosure provides a method foradjusting an output frame, which adjusts the output framecorrespondingly according to a position where a user views a display soas to generate a better output result.

The present disclosure provides a device for adjusting an output frame.After detecting a relative position between a user and a display, thedevice automatically adjusts the output frame according to the relativeposition so as to render it more convenient for the user to view theoutput frame.

The present disclosure provides a method for adjusting an output frame,which is suitable for an electronic device with a display. In themethod, a relative position between the user and the display is obtainedfirst. Next, the output frame of the display is correspondingly adjustedaccording to the relative position.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the step ofobtaining the relative position between the user and the displayincludes capturing an input image including the user, obtaining a facialfeature of the user from the input image, and then determining therelative position between the user and the display according to thefacial feature. The facial feature can be eye positions, a noseposition, a mouth position or a facial outline of the user.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the step ofdetermining the relative position according to the facial featureincludes determining a rotating angle of the user relative to thedisplay according to an angle formed by a connected line of the eyepositions and a rotating reference line preset on the input image.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the step ofdetermining the relative position according to the facial featureincludes determining a shift of the user relative to the displayaccording to a shift reference point on the input image and a positionof the facial feature in the input image.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the step ofdetermining the relative position according to the facial featureincludes obtaining a size and proportion of the facial feature relativeto the input image and comparing the size and proportion with aproportion reference value so as to determine a distance between theuser and the display.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the step ofcorrespondingly adjusting the output frame according to the relativeposition includes scaling the output frame, rotating the output frame,shifting the output frame, adjusting colors of the output frame,changing contents of the output frame and adjusting pixels of the outputframe to optimize display result of the output frame.

From another viewpoint, the present disclosure provides a device foradjusting an output frame. The device for adjusting the output frameincludes a display, a user detecting module, a relative positionobtaining module and an image processing module. The display displaysthe output frame. The user detecting module obtains an input informationrelated to the user. The relative position obtaining module is connectedto the user detecting module and determines the relative positionbetween the user and the display with the input information. The imageprocessing module is connected to the display and the relative positionobtaining module and adjusts the output frame correspondingly accordingto the relative position between the user and the display so as tocontrol the display to display the adjusted output frame.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the user detectingmodule is an image capturing device and captures an input imageincluding the user as the input information. Herein, the relativeposition obtaining module obtains a facial feature of the user from theinput image captured by the user detecting module and determines therelative position between the user and the display according to thefacial feature.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the user detectingmodule can be an image capturing device. The facial feature can be eyepositions, a nose position, a mouth position or a facial outline of theuser.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the relativeposition obtaining module determines a rotating angle of the userrelative to the display according to an angle formed by a connected lineof the eye positions and a rotating reference line on the input image.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the relativeposition obtaining module determines a shift of the user relative to thedisplay according to a shift reference point on the input image and aposition of the facial feature in the input image.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the relativeposition obtaining module obtains a size and proportion of the facialfeature relative to the input image and compares a proportion referencevalue and the size and proportion to determine a distance between theuser and the display.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the imageprocessing module scales the output frame, rotates the output frame,shifts the output frame, adjusts colors of the output frame, changescontents of the output frame or adjusts pixels of the output frameaccording to the relative position so as to optimize display result ofthe output frame.

In the present disclosure, the output frame is adjusted correspondinglyaccording to the relative position between the user and the display whenthe user is viewing the display. In other words, the display of thepresent disclosure outputs the frame most suitable for the user to viewin the current position such that the user can view the contents of theoutput frame with a more relaxing manner and enjoy the best displayresult at the same time.

In order to make the aforementioned and other objects, features andadvantages of the present disclosure more comprehensible, severalembodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitutea part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of thedisclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a device for adjusting an output frameaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a method for adjusting an output frameaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of obtaining a relative position according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIGS. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 are schematic views of an image includinga user according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

When outputting a frame through a display, if an electronic device cantimely adjust the size, angle or even the contents of the output frameaccording to the current state of a user, the user certainly canexperience better viewing result. The present disclosure is a method anda device for adjusting an output frame which are developed from saidviewpoint. In order to render the present disclosure morecomprehensible, embodiments are described below as the examples to provethat the disclosure can actually be realized.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a device for adjusting an output frameaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG.1, a device 100 for adjusting an output frame includes a display 110, auser detecting module 120, a relative position obtaining module 130 andan image processing module 140. The display 110 displays the outputframe. The user detecting module 120 receives an input informationrelated to the user. The relative position obtaining module 130 isconnected to the user detecting module 120 and determines a relativeposition between the user and the display 110 with the input informationreceived by the user detecting module 120. The image processing module140 is simultaneously connected to the display 110 and the relativeposition obtaining module 130 to correspondingly adjust the output frameaccording to the relative position between the user and the display 110before the display 110 displays the output frame.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the user detectingmodule 120 can be an image capturing device such as a photograph lens,and the input information at the moment can be an input image capturedby the image capturing device. The user detecting module 120 alsoreceives the input image and determines the relative position betweenthe user and the display 110 according to the input image. When the useris using the device 100 for adjusting the output frame, the imagecapturing device and the display 110 both face the user.

The device 100 for adjusting the output frame of the present disclosurecan be applied in any electronic device with a display, e.g., mobilephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), smartphones, personalcomputers or notebook computers. Herein, the present disclosure does notlimit a range of the electronic device. Through operation of the device100 for adjusting the output frame, the output frame is dynamicallyadjusted so that the electronic device maintains its optimal displayresult. In order to further illustrate the operation of the device 100for adjusting the output frame, another embodiment is enumerated formore detailed description below.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a method for adjusting an output frameaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to bothFIGS. 1 and 2, as shown by a step 210, the user detecting module 120first provides the input information for the relative position obtainingmodule 130 to determine a current relative position between the user andthe display 110. According to the present embodiment, the user detectingmodule 120 can be an image capturing device, and the input informationprovided by the user detecting module 120 is an input image. As such,steps for obtaining the relative position are shown by FIG. 3.

In a step 310 of FIG. 3, first, the user detecting module 120 capturesan input image including a photograph of the user. Afterwards, as shownby a step 320, the relative position obtaining module 130 obtains afacial feature of the user according to the input image. Herein, thefacial feature can be eye positions, a nose position, a mouth positionor a facial outline. The relative position obtaining module 130 canapply any facial detecting technology to obtain the facial feature, andthe present disclosure is not limited in this aspect. Nevertheless, tofacilitate illustration and considering that the eyes of the user arethe most direct subject when viewing the output frame, it is presumed inall the following embodiments that the facial feature to be obtained bythe relative position obtaining module 130 is the eye positions of theuser.

After the eye positions of the user are obtained, subsequently in a step330, the relative position obtaining module 130 determines a relativeposition (e.g., a distance, an angle, or a shift) between the user andthe display 110 according to the eye positions. Several embodiments areenumerated as follows to illustrate steps of determining the relativeposition by the relative position obtaining module 130.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an input image including a user accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 4, in thepresent embodiment, the relative position obtaining module 130 firstobtains display positions of the user's eyes in an input image 400.Then, after a shift reference point X set on the input image 400 and theeye positions are compared, the eye positions are found to be higherthan the shift reference point X. Hence, it is determined that the useris currently viewing the display 110 from an angle higher than thedisplay 110. When the input image captured by the user detecting module120 is an input image 500 as shown in FIG. 5, since the user's eyes inthe input image 500 are positioned on the left of a central point X, itis determined that the user views the display 110 from an angle on theleft of the display 110. In view of the foregoing, by comparing the eyepositions with the central point, a shift of the user in an upper, alower, the left or the right direction relative to the display 110 isdetermined. According to another embodiment, after the shift isobtained, a current view angle of the user can be further calculatedfrom the shift. According to the present embodiment, the shift referencepoint X can be set in the central points of the input images 400 and500, but the disposition of the shift reference point X actually is notlimited to this.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are schematic views of an input image including a useraccording to another embodiment of the present disclosure. In an inputimage 600, the relative position obtaining module 130 first determinesthe user's eye positions by the facial detecting technology, therebyobtaining the user's eye outlines. Thereafter, a size and proportionbetween the eye outlines and the input image 600 is calculated. Finally,the size and proportion and a preset proportion reference value arecompared to determine a distance between the user and the display 110.For example, when the user is closer to the display 110, the size andproportion of the eyes in the input image becomes larger (as shown bythe input image 600 in FIG. 6). When the user is farther away from thedisplay 110, the proportion of the eyes in the input image becomessmaller (as shown by an input image 700 in FIG. 7). Therefore, a currentdistance between the user and the display 110 is determined by the sizeand proportion of the facial feature in the input image.

According to another embodiment, the user may have to rotate the display110 for viewing because the frame is displayed in a different direction.Suppose before the user rotates the display 110, an input image 800 asshown in FIG. 8 is captured by the user detecting module 120. As shownby the input image 800, under circumstances where the display 110 is notrotated, an angle θ formed by a connected line 810 of the user's eyepositions and a rotating reference line 820 set on the input image 800is 90 degrees. When the user rotates the display 110 to the left by 90degrees, an input image captured by the user detecting module 120 is aninput image 900 as shown by FIG. 9, for example. In such a state, aconnected line 910 of the user's eye positions is parallel to a rotatingreference line 920 set on the input image 900. In other words, arotating angle of the user relative to the display 110 can be determinedby an angle formed by the connected line of the user's eye positions andthe rotating reference line set on the input image. According to thepresent embodiment, the rotating reference lines 820 and 920 are ahorizontal line or a vertical line preset on the input images 800 and900 respectively, but the disposition of the rotating reference lines infact is not limited thereto.

As described above, the relative position obtaining module 130 not onlydetermines that the user is currently viewing the display 110 in aposition slanting upwards or downwards, or slanting towards the left orthe right according to the input image captured by the user detectingmodule 120. Meanwhile, the relative position obtaining module 130 alsodetermines information as what the distance is between the user and thedisplay 110 and whether or not the user rotates the display 110.However, it should be emphasized that the relative position obtainingmodule 130 can obtain the facial feature by any facial identification ordetecting technology and calculate the relative position between theuser and the display 110. In the present disclosure, the relativeposition is not limited to the shift, rotating angle and distancebetween the user and the display. Likewise, an algorithm for obtainingthe relative position is not limited, either.

Next, reverting to a step 220 in FIG. 2, after obtaining the currentrelative position between the user and the display 110, the imageprocessing module 140 adjusts the output frame of the display 110correspondingly according to the relative position. According to anembodiment, the image processing module 140 timely scales the contentsof the output frame according the distance between the user and thedisplay 110. For example, when the distance between the user and thedisplay 110 is farther, words or graphics in the output frame areautomatically enlarged. When the user is very close to the display 110,the contents in the output frame such as words and graphics aredisplayed in a reduced size or a standard size.

According to another embodiment, when a shift occurs between the userand the display 110, the image processing module 140 can, for example,shift the output frame correspondingly in a direction of the shift so asto achieve an effect similar to rolling frames. Or, after a current viewangle and position of the user is calculated according to the shift,when the user is determined as being in a dead angle of gray scaleinversion of an LCD, the image processing module 140 first adjustscolors of the output frame and then controls the display 110 to outputthe frames so that the user sees the frames in the correct colors.

Furthermore, when a rotating angle exists between the user and thedisplay 110, the image processing module 140 rotates the output framecorrespondingly according to the rotating angle. For example, when theuser rotates the display 110 by 90 degrees, the image processing module140 changes a display direction of the output frame from the originalvertical direction to a horizontal direction. It should be noted thatbesides rotating the output frame by 90 degrees, if the user detectingmodule 120 captures an input image 1000 as shown by FIG. 10, the imageprocessing module 140 also rotates the output frame correspondinglyaccording to an angle θ formed by a connected line 1010 of the user'seye positions and a rotating reference line 1020 set on the input image1000 (i.e., the output frame being rotated by θ degrees and thenoutputted by the display 110). Thus, the user can view the words orgraphics in the output frame more conveniently.

In addition to changing the size and the display direction of the outputframe, according to an embodiment, the image processing module 140 canfurther change the contents of the output frame according to therelative position between the user and the display 110. For example,when the user is close to the display 110, the image processing module140 controls the display 110 to output a frame with an analog clock.When the user keeps a farther distance from the display 110, the outputframe is changed into a digital clock to enhance readability. Accordingto still another embodiment, the image processing module 140 can furtherdisplay different output frames according to the angle at which the userrotates the display 110 so as to achieve an effect similar to displayinga laser animation sticker or flipping through pages.

According to another embodiment, suppose the display 110 is a 3Ddisplay. When the relative position between the user and the display 110indicates that the user is located exactly in a dead view angle, theimage processing module 140 optimizes the output frame by adjustingpixels of the output frame, for example, to present the best 3D displayresult so that the view angle issue of the 3D display is resolved.

In summary, the method and the device for adjusting the output frame inthe present disclosure correspondingly adjusts the output frameaccording to the relative position between the user and the display.Thereby, the output frame is displayed not only in the most suitablesize, the most correct colors and the best angle, flexibility of theoutput frame is also enhanced simultaneously so that the user enjoys theoptimal display result in any view position, and the impression formedfrom use of the electronic device improves as well.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the structure of the presentdisclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure.In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present disclosurecover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they fallwithin the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for adjusting an output frame, suitablefor an electronic device with a display, the method comprising:obtaining a relative position between a user and the display by arelative position obtaining module; and adjusting an output frame of thedisplay according to the relative position by an image processingmodule, wherein adjusting the output frame comprises scaling the outputframe based on a distance between the user and the display such thatwhen the distance is farther, a content in the output frame is enlargedaccordingly, wherein when the distance is shorter than a set distance,the content in the output frame is displayed in a reduced size or anoriginal size accordingly, wherein a current view angle based on therelative position of the user is calculated with respect to a shift,when the user is determined as being in a dead angle of gray scaleinversion of the display, the image processing module first adjustscolors of the output frame and then controls the display to display theoutput frame so that the user sees the output frame in correct colors.2. The method for adjusting the output frame as claimed in claim 1,wherein obtaining the relative position between the user and the displaycomprises: capturing an input image; obtaining a facial feature of auser from the input image; and determining the relative position betweenthe user and the display according to the facial feature.
 3. The methodfor adjusting the output frame as claimed in claim 2, wherein the facialfeature comprises at least one of the following: eye positions, a noseposition, a mouth position and a facial outline.
 4. The method foradjusting the output frame as claimed in claim 3, wherein determiningthe relative position according to the facial feature comprises:determining a rotating angle of the user relative to the displayaccording to an angle formed by a connected line of the eye positionsand a rotating reference line set on the input image.
 5. The method foradjusting the output frame as claimed in claim 2, wherein determiningthe relative position according to the facial feature comprises:determining a shift of the user relative to the display according to ashift reference point set on the input image and a position of thefacial feature in the input image.
 6. The method for adjusting theoutput frame as claimed in claim 2, wherein determining the relativeposition according to the facial feature comprises: obtaining a size andproportion of the facial feature relative to the input image; andcomparing a proportion reference value and the size and proportion todetermine a distance between the user and the display.
 7. The method foradjusting the output frame as claimed in claim 1, wherein the outputframe is adjusted by at least one of scaling the output frame, rotatingthe output frame and shifting the output frame.
 8. The method foradjusting the output frame as claimed in claim 1, wherein the outputframe is adjusted by adjusting colors of the output frame.
 9. The methodfor adjusting the output frame as claimed in claim 1, wherein the outputframe is adjusted by changing contents of the output frame.
 10. Themethod for adjusting the output frame as claimed in claim 1, wherein theoutput frame is adjusted by adjusting pixels of the output frame.
 11. Adevice for adjusting an output frame, comprising: a display, fordisplaying the output frame; a user detecting module, for obtaining aninput information related to a user, wherein a distance between the userand the display is also detected; a relative position obtaining module,connected to the user detecting module and used for determining arelative position between the user and the display with the inputinformation; and an image processing module, connected to the displayand the relative position obtaining module to adjust the output frameaccording to the relative position and controlling the display todisplay the output frame, wherein adjusting the output frame comprisesscaling the output frame based on the distance between the user and thedisplay such that when the distance is farther, a content in the outputframe is enlarged accordingly, wherein when the distance is shorter, thecontent in the output frame is displayed in a reduced size or anoriginal size accordingly, wherein a current view angle based on therelative position of the user is calculated with respect to a shift,when the user is determined as being in a dead angle of gray scaleinversion of the display, the image processing module first adjustscolors of the output frame and then controls the display to display theoutput frame so that the user sees the output frame in correct colors.12. The device for adjusting the output frame as claimed in claim 11,wherein the user detecting module is an image capturing device, theinput information is an input image comprising the user, and therelative position obtaining module obtains a facial feature of the userfrom the input image and determines the relative position between theuser and the display according to the facial feature.
 13. The device foradjusting the output frame as claimed in claim 12, wherein the facialfeature comprises at least one of the following: eye positions, a noseposition, a mouth position and a facial outline.
 14. The device foradjusting the output frame as claimed in claim 13, wherein the relativeposition obtaining module determines a rotating angle of the userrelative to the display according to an angle formed by a connected lineof the eye positions and a rotating reference line set on the inputimage.
 15. The device for adjusting the output frame as claimed in claim12, wherein the relative position obtaining module determines a shift ofthe user relative to the display according to a shift reference pointpreset on the input image and a position of the facial feature in theinput image.
 16. The device for adjusting the output frame as claimed inclaim 12, wherein the relative position obtaining module obtains a sizeand proportion of the facial feature relative to the input image andcompares a proportion reference value and the size and proportion todetermine a distance between the user and the display.
 17. The devicefor adjusting the output frame as claimed in claim 11, wherein the imageprocessing module carries out at least one of scaling the output frameaccording to the relative position, rotating the output frame accordingto the relative position and shifting the output frame according to therelative position.
 18. The device for adjusting the output frame asclaimed in claim 11, wherein the image processing module adjusts colorsof the output frame according to the relative position.
 19. The devicefor adjusting the output frame as claimed in claim 11, wherein the imageprocessing module changes contents of the output frame according to therelative position.
 20. The device for adjusting the output frame asclaimed in claim 11, wherein the image processing module adjusts pixelsof the output frame according to the relative position.